Electric-arc extinguisher.



F. M. LOGKE. ELECTRIC ARG EXTINGUISHER. APPLIU'ATION FILED JULY s1, 1911.

l, 1 27,048'. Patented F6112, 1915.

FRED M. Loom, oF VICTOR. NEW-Yonai.-

ELECTRIC-ARC EXTINGUISHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 191.5.

Appneatien'fuea :rulyat .1911. 'serial N. B41 ,53s.

To all 'whom it may concern.' Be it known that I, FRED M. LocKE, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of Victor, in the county of Ontario and State' ofNew York, have invented certain new andl useful Improvements in Electric-Arc Extinguishers, of which the following is a specification. e

This invention relates to arc-extinguishers of the type in which explosive or expansive action is employed to break the aro and reference is hereby made to my copending application Serial No. 686,554, tiled March 27, 1912.

The object .of the invention is to improve arc-extinguishers of this type in such a manner as torender them more effective. I have found that this may be done by employing the blast from an explosive cartridge to completely eject, from the path of the arc, a conductor forming part of the circuit, the are being thus lengthened at two points simultaneously, and more etectually extinguished than where the blast from the cartridge is employed merely to produce a single break in the arc."

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a. diagram showing insulators and lightning arresters of a high-potential line, equipped with arcextinguishers embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a similar diagram which shows another arrangement of the arc-extinguishers; Figs. 3 and V4 are elevations showing other modifications; and Fig. 5 is a Y longitudinal section of the cartridge.

In Fig. l, the insulators 4, 4, 4, are pro.- vided with upwardly-projecting lightning arresters of the form usually employed. The theory of these lightning-arresters is that the arc, when one occurs, forms between the elbows 6, 6, and works upwardly along the horns 5, 5, where it is extinguished by the width of the gap that separates them, but, as a matter of fact., on lines that carry a heavy current, and particularly under a high potential, or when lightning strikes the line, an arc once formed is maintained till it does damage to the line. rI`he cartridges 7 (see Fig. 5) are represented in the drawings as metal shells 8, which contain powder or some other explosive 11, a plug 9 and a pin 10 insu' extends through vthe plug and linto the powder.

A cartridge 7 is fastened in any suitable manner to eachy ci' the horns 5, 5 'of the lightning-arrester shown in Fig. 1, so that if an arc forms acrossthe elbows 6, 6 of the horns, it moves upwardly and reaches the powder of the-cartridgev by means of the pins' 10, 10, which'momentarily become conductors constituting. portions of the electric circuit. The flow o f current between the inner end of each pin and the metal shell 8 then ignites the powder 11, thus causing an explosion that blows outI the plugl 9 and, with it, the pin 10, thus 'breaking the are.

While the arrangement just described has been proven to be eifective, experiments have shown that a more powerful effect can be produced by fixing thecartridges in such a position that when the explosion occurs the discharge :from the cartridge will take course across the arc. Such an arrangement of the cartridge is shown in Fig. 2. Herein place of the pin 10 I employ a longer conductor l2 which extends beyond the cartridge and is' bent at an angle to the axis of the cartridge for the purpose. of giving the arc more advantageous entrance'to the powder. When the conductors 12, 12 are blown out the gap between the horns 5, 5 is increased and the discharge from the cartridge is directly across the arc.

In Fig. 3 the post 13 with its insulator is represented as having a number of upwardly-projecting arcing points 14 placed to catch an arc from the line wire 15. Here the cartridges 7 are placed on the upper ends of the points 14, so that an arc cannot reach one of the points without exploding a cartridge.

Fig. 4 shows an arrangement similar to that shown in Fig. 3, except that the cartridges are connected by an arcing ring 16, such as are in common use on high-potential lines. Other arrangements of the horns or arcing points and the cartridges may obviously be made by any skilled electrician, and so I do not limit myself to those described.

1. The combination with an explosive cartridge of two elements one of which nor- Inally forms a portion of an electric circuit, an isolated conductor having one end seated in the cartridge and insulated therefrom and its other end exposed and positioned adjacent the path of an arc between the two elements and adapted to form a path for combination a cartridge containing explosive material and mounted upon one of two elements between which an arc may occur, said elements being electrically unconnected and oneof the same normally forming a portion.

of an-electric circuit, and an isolated conductor enteringthe explosive material'and projecting from the cartridge so as to lie in the path of an arc occurring between. the two conductors and to beV expelled from said path when the cartridgeis exploded.

3. The combination, with two conductors,-

of ay cartridge containing explosive material and mounted on one of said conductors, with its open end projecting substantially at right angles to the path followed by an arc between said conductors, and a s hort iso lated conductor having one end seated in the cartridge and its other `end directedtoward the second of said two conductors, whereby the isolated conductor is adapted to constitute a path for an arcl and to be' expelled from the arc in a direction substantially normal to the length of thefarc.

4. The combination with two conductors of a cartridge containing explosivematerial, a short isolated conductor having one end seated in the cartridge and its other end exposed and positioned adjacent the path of an arc between the -two first named conductors so as to form a course for such arc and' adapted upon the occurrence of such arc to be expelled by the explosive material from the path of the arc.

5. The combination With a line wire ofy a points, an arcing ring electrically connecting the arcing points and explosive means in connection with said points for extinguishing an arc upon the occurrence thereof.

7. lThe combination with a line wire of an insulator carrying the same, asupport for the insulator, an explosive cartridge positioned intermediate a portion of the line wire and the support and adapted to be exploded upon the occurrence of an arc between the line wire and its supporting elements to automatically and immediately extinguish anarc.

FRED M. LCKE.

Witnesses: Y

C. S. DAvIs, D. GURNEE. 

